International Journal of Community Based Nursing and Midwifery
Volume:9 Issue: 2, Apr 2021

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most globally-prevalent sexually-transmitteddisease. Many stresses experienced by the patients after their disease is diagnosed affect the diseaseprogression, and these problems and consequences demonstrate the importance of the support for thepatients. The present research was conducted to explore the perception and experience of support inpatients diagnosed with HPV.

In this qualitative study, 24 participants (17 patients, 2 spouses of these patients, and 5health service providers), selected using purposeful and snowballing sampling from April 2019 toMarch 2020, underwent an inductive content analysis conducted in dermatology clinic of ShahidFaghihi hospital, Shiraz, Iran. The data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews,all of which were recorded and transcribed. The data were analyzed in MAXQDA 2018 until datasaturation was reached.

The patients aged 19-50 years old were married in 14 of the cases and their majority had genitalor anal warts. Their level of education ranged from junior high school to an MSc degree. Perceivedsupportive paradox emerged as the main theme which consisted of 2 categories of supportiveness andlack of support.

The present findings showed many challenges for the patients in the face of contradictorybehaviors by their relatives and health service providers. Integrated systems are required to develop inorder to promote the understanding of health service providers of HPV and counsel the patients to takeappropriate strategies and, therefore, eliminate their confusion and reduce their anxiety.

Several factors affect older adults’ engagement in HPBs. This study aimed to examineHPBs, health needs, and associated factors among older adults in Jordan. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 220 older adults at one governmental and oneuniversity hospital, which were selected using convenience sampling for geographical closeness to theresearchers. All older adults with no cognitive or communication problems who attended the outpatientclinics of the two hospitals from December 2018 to April 2019 were included in the study. This timeperiod was chosen based on the convenience of the participants and researchers. Data were collected byAn Arabic version of the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP) and a demographic questionnaire.The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) 25.0 software was used for the descriptive andinferential analysis of the study data. The level of significance was set at p <0.05. The mean score of the total HPLP was 125.33±19.09. The marital status and educational levelof the participants were associated with the total HPLP (p <0.001) in all its dimensions, except for thedimension of interpersonal relations. Participants with chronic diseases had lower scores than thosewithout diseases for the total HPLP (p <0.001) in all the six dimensions. Family income was positivelycorrelated with the dimensions of nutrition (P=0.007) and exercise (P=0.002). Despite the good overall mean score of older adults for total HPLP and some of itssubscales, their levels of exercise and physical activity need to be promoted. The scores of older adultswere related to various demographic and clinical factors.

The patients’ companions can help improve transitional care as an important missinglink, but their role is not clear. The aim of this study was to explore the role of the patients’ companionin the transitional care from the open heart surgery intensive care unit (OH-ICU) to the cardiac surgeryward. This was a qualitative descriptive study using conventional content analysis that wasconducted from September 2019 to February 2020 in Tehran, Iran. Purposeful sampling method withmaximum variation was performed among the patients eligible for transfer to the cardiac surgeryward, their companions, nurses, and physicians in charge of transferring from the OH-ICU to theward. 27 in-depth and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 participants , and data wereanalyzed using the Granheim and Lundman method. The data were managed using the MAXQDAsoftware (version 10.0). Based on our analysis, the theme “Dual role of the patients’ companion” and its two categories,“Companion as a facilitator” and “Companion as an inhibitor”, were extracted. Emotional support,satisfaction of basic needs, care arm, alarm bell, and communication bridge were the sub-categories ofthe first category, and Interfering with care and creation of tension were those of the second category. We concluded that the patients’ companions can play an important role in transitionalcare, especially as emotional support and system assistants due to the structure of the health caresystem and Iranian cultural context . Therefore, it is suggested that the patients’ companion should beconsidered as a member of the transition team and accompany them in this process by informing andsupporting them.

Colorectal cancer has a widespread impact on the psychological and physical dimensionsof patients and threatens their subjective well-being. Peer support is an effective strategy to increasesubjective well-being in cancer patients. This study aims to evaluate the impact of peer support throughtelecommunications on the subjective well-being of colorectal cancer patients.

This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 60 patients with colorectal cancer inMashhad, Iran from November 2018 to April 2019. Two educational hospitals were selected throughrandom sampling from four educational hospitals. Then, participants were randomly selected from thelist of patients in each group using a block randomization method. The intervention group receivedthe peer support program by using telephone and virtual social networks for a month. The data werecollected by the Warwick-Edinburgh Subjective Well-being Scale before and after the intervention andwere then analyzed through independent t-test, paired t-test, and chi-squared test using SPSS version16. The level of significant was set at p <0.05.

Before the intervention, the mean subjective well-being score of the patients did not showsignificant difference in the intervention and control groups, respectively (27.8±5.4 vs. 27.6±6.3,P=0.619). However, after the intervention, the mean subjective well-being score of the interventiongroup showed a significant increase compared to the control group (49.16±3.3 vs. 26.6±6.1, p <0.001).

This randomized controlled trial shows that peer support interventions throughtelecommunication can improve the subjective well-being of patients with colorectal cancer. Therefore,this method can be used as an effective palliative approach to promote patients’ subjective well-being.

As pregnant women are among vulnerable groups susceptible to respiratory infections,healthcare systems in most countries would pay more attention to providing the services required inthe COVID-19 pandemic. The present study aims to identify the information needs of pregnant womenduring the COVID-19 pandemic. The research team conducted a qualitative conventional content analysis with an inductiveapproach to identify the views of 19 experts when working in the field of providing obstetric andmidwifery services in Isfahan from April to June 2020. The semi-structured interviews were analyzedusing MAXQDA v18. The results showed that the information needs of pregnant women during the Covid-19epidemic should be set in four areas, including 1) Self-efficacy of pregnant women, 2) Informationthat provokes sensitivity to the preventive measures, 3) Awareness of the perceived threat, and 4)Awareness of the health system functions in COVID-19 pandemic. The study shows that the self-efficacy of pregnant women depends deeply on beinginformed of the general and specific self-care principles. Besides, sensitivity could be achieved throughthe increased risk perception and knowledge on the pandemic. However, pregnant mothers shouldknow the potential threats that could pose them at risk of vulnerability. Finally, awareness of the healthsystem functions regarding access to reliable information resources along with provided services atMedical University websites is also recommended.

Diabetes is the most common endocrine disorder. Non-pharmacological methodscan be used for treatment of these patients. The present study aimed to investigate the effect ofacupressure point on fasting blood glucose and glycosylated levels of diabetic patients. This clinical trial was conducted on 102 patients who referred to Motahari Clinic ofShiraz during May-June in 2018. The participants were selected based on simple random samplingand divided into three groups via permuted block randomization. The control group only received thepharmacological treatments. The intervention group received acupressure at ST36 point in additionto medications. The placebo group also received medications and acupressure at a fake point. Theintervention was carried out for six minutes (three minutes for each lower extremity), three sessionsa week for 12 weeks. Fasting blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin levels were checked in allpatients immediately after the intervention. The data were analyzed using Chi-square, paired t-test, andANOVA by the SPSS statistical software, version 21, and p The results showed no significant differences among the three groups’ blood glucose meanlevels before (P=0.89) and after the intervention (P=0.36). However, a significant difference wasobserved in the intervention group’s glycosylated hemoglobin mean levels before (8.61±1.96) and afterthe intervention (8.1±1.62) (P=0.02). In sum, the study indicated that acupressure could only be effective in reducing theglycosylated hemoglobin in the intervention group. Thus, further larger studies are recommended toevaluate the effectiveness of this technique.

Pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) are common and complicated problems that occur inwomen with different ages and cultural backgrounds and affect various dimensions of their life.Because of the dearth of information about how the Iranian women manage these disorders, this studywas conducted to explore the experiences of women who live with PFDs. This qualitative study was conducted between 2018 -2019 on women who referred to theclinics of Mashhad educational hospitals . 25 deep and semi-structured interview with 22 patientswith PFDs was done. They were recruited through a purposive sampling method among women withdiagnosis of PFDs. Data were analyzed using conventional content analysis adopted by Graneheim andLundman and organized using the MAXQDA software (Ver.10). The analysis of the data led to the emergence of a theme of “Acceptance and Tolerance”,including four categories: “Trying to adopt sexual conflicts”, “ Concealing the disease”, “Trying tomodify the lifestyle”, and “Controlling negative emotions”, and 15 sub-categories. This study provides an insight into self-management strategies for different aspects ofchallenges faced by women with PFDs.They try to resolve, conceal, modify, and control some issues toaccept and tolerate their disease. By identifying self-management strategies, care providers can designand implement counseling, educating and supporting interventions, and also a program through whichthe patients help and guide each other.